Blazing Talk News

Rivalry renewed for the Eastern Conference Finals

After beating the Bucks in five games, the Miami Heat booked a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals where they will matchup against the Boston Celtics. Its another chapter in a historic rivalry between the two clubs. I have a feeling Boston will flame out against the Heat in six.

I know what you’re thinking… Jayson Tatum? Jaylen Brown? Kemba Walker? Yes, they have a three-headed monster, excellent ball movement, and it’s a more favorable matchup compared to Toronto. Here are some reasons why Miami can close out this series and advance to the NBA Finals

Small ball matchup

If you didn’t notice, small ball lineups have been the theme of the year. Many teams in the bubble have ditched traditional bigs and opted for mobile, smaller forwards or centers. Houston, Toronto, Miami, Oklahoma City, and others and utilized this style of play. Miami does have a favorable matchup in the paint with Bam Adebayo facing Daniel Theis. Bam Adebayo has averaged 15 points and nine rebounds against the Celtics, while Theis has averaged 9/8r. One of the primary responsibilities as a center is to rebound which helps control the boards. This facet of the game Miami will have an advantage.

Will Hayward return?
Although Boston has some of the deadliest scorers left in the bubble, a little bit of their OMG factor is taken out due to the injury of Gordon Heyward. Hayward came to Boston to reunite with his former college coach Brad Stevens after playing seven seasons for the Utah Jazz. He is an important part of Boston’s offense because he’s averaged 22 points per game against Miami this season. Reports currently list him as likely to return after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the playoffs. It’s safe to say Hayward will return but it’s a case of when.

Miami has more grit
If there is one thing Miami will bring to this series in a willingness to win. Knowing that they are not necessarily the more polished team, the Heat will enter this series with a chip on their shoulders, and players like Butler, Herro, Crowder, and others will lead the way. Despite losing twice to the Celtics earlier in the season, Miami has proven they can overcome any challenge.

X-Factors
Boston’s x-factor is Gordon Hayward. If Hayward comes back and shows that he is still effective offensively, Miami will be in for a long series. However, if Hayward comes back and he struggles to match the speed of the game then the Heat’s chances are still great. For Miami, their X-factor is Duncan Robinson. Robinson has been in a shooting slump since the Pacer series. Teams have been keying on him to make sure he doesn’t get going. This has forced other players to be more decisive on the offensive. If Robinson can cut down on the fouls and find his rhythm again, Miami will have more than enough firepower to beat the Celtics.

Bottom Line: Celtics, on paper, have the more lethal team, but Miami’s system combined with their blue-collar mentality can surprise Boston in six.

Get your brooms ready! Heat on verge of ending series early

If you’re not a Heat fan, don’t read this post. If you don’t like to clean, don’t read this post. Heck, if you don’t like brooms, don’t read this post. After Thursday’s win over the Pacers, the Heat are in prime position to close this series early. While it’s early to make this prediction, Miami has a few advantages over there conference rivals. Their success is summed up in three words: defense, passion, and Butler. Up until this point, both teams have displayed ugly stretches of missed shots and turnovers in both games and their share of injuries.

For Indiana, they are on the wrong end of the series. They also have been victims of unforeseen challenges like Victor Oladipo’s injury early in the series, Domantas Sabonis foot injury during the seeding games, and the emergence of T.J Warren. Battling with injuries to their key players, Indiana is going toe-to-toe with Miami despite the setbacks and found source of production deep in their bench. It’s clear that Indiana is not going down without a fight and won’t bend to the growing talks of a sweep.

Miami, on the other hand, plans on ending this series as quickly as possible. Being up two games in a best of 7 series only means the opponents will only be harder to beat. In many instances, the Heat has struggled offensively and defensively which worries me somewhat when I see how other teams like Boston and Toronto are performing. However, the Indiana team despite having a full team would give any other conference team a run for their money. Miami’s bread and butter of defense and spread the floor has been the deciding factor so far. Also, Jimmy Butler has been money for Miami in the clutch.

In my opinion, Miami will sweep the Pacers. Indiana isn’t terrible but Miami has slight advantages that Indiana doesn’t have right now. For one, the Heat have their key players healthy, whereas Indiana sorely needs Sabonis and their other star Oladipo isn’t 100 percent healthy. Miami also multiple shooters that can stretch the floor outside of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. Plus, Jimmy Butler has also given Miami the luxury of closing out games or shifting the momentum in their favor. Indiana will need to rely on their size and effort and production from Warren, Michael Brogdon, Myles Turner, and others to outmuscle the Heat on the boards and contain Miami.

Game 3 begins at 3:30 pm on TNT. A must-win for both teams, Indiana has another chance to extend the series and gain momentum. Miami needs to win this game to wrap up this series quickly so they can recover for the next round. This game will test both teams’ resiliency and concentration.

Miami faces Indiana in first round of playoffs

After Friday’s game against the Pacers, Miami sits at fourth in the conference. According to standings, Miami will face the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. This will be the fifth time Miami will face Indiana. This time, however, the winner takes all in a best of 7 series. In the last matchup. The Heat lost by double-digits to the Pacers, a game where both teams rested most of their starters and role players to prepare for the playoffs.

The rivalry between the Pacers and the Heat was revived earlier this year following an altercation with Jimmy Butler and T.J Warren. This matchup will be the latest chapter in the ongoing feud. The earliest levels of competition stemmed back as far as the 2009-10 season where the Heat, centered around then All-Star MVP Dwyane Wade, swept the Pacers in the season series. From there, the rivalry picked up again when Miami formed their “Big 3” consisting of LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh. The “Big 3” battled over the next few seasons against a rising star in Paul George and a deep Pacers team.

We fast forward to now, Miami and Indiana are both building teams capable of challenging the top teams in the playoffs and once again will need to battle it out in a seven-game series. This series will be one of the highly televised games given the recent success of both franchises as well as their bad blood with each other. Miami has a great chance to knock off the Pacers and advance to the next round given their previous success throughout this season. Unfortunately, we will likely miss the high-flyer Derrick Jones Jr after he sustained a neck sprain in yesterday’s finale of the NBA restart. Pacers will look to get T.J Warren back in rhythm as he went on a jaw-dropping streak of scoring over 30 points in four of the last six games. Indiana will also utilize Victor Oladipo, who is still adjusting after suffering knee injuries that derailed his time on the court. This series has all the makings of going six or possibly seven games with both teams near equal in standings. Game 1 of the series begins on Tuesday at 4:00 pm on TNT.

Five thoughts about the Heat vs Celtics

Miami narrows the gap

After suffering a bitter loss to the Toronto Raptors, Miami held on to a slim victory over the Boston Celtics. Miami had a slight advantage over the Celtics in Field Goal Percentage as well as 3PT Percentage. The Boston Celtics fought back from a 12-point deficit but ultimately came up short. Miami are 1.5 games behind Boston for the third seed in the playoff race.

No Butler

Jimmy Butler did not participate due to an ankle injury. During the game, guard Goran Dragic also suffered an ankle injury as well. It remains to be seen if Butler will suit up for the game against the Bucks.

Scoring in bunches

Many players stepped up to replace the offensive void left by Butler. Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson both scored 21 points in the game. Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk also made significant contributions scoring 11 and 15 points.

Staying Clean

The Heat were able to limit their turnovers to 13 whereas compared to Boston’s 16. Miami also committed much fewer fouls (19) than Boston (26) despite being massively outnumbered in points in the paint. Adebayo leads both teams with 12 rebounds making it his 40th double-double for the season. It was a frustrating night for Celtics star Jayson Tatum who was in foul trouble despite having a good performance and subsequently had to miss time from the court.

The matchup versus Milwaukee

The Heat will face the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, August 6th. The Bucks will look to bounce back after a 119-116 loss to the Brooklyn Nets but still remain first in the Eastern conference.

5 thoughts about the Heat vs Nuggets

Efficient when it counts

One of the ways Miami came away with the win is thanks to their Field Goal Percentage. They converted 55% of their shots while Denver only converted 43%. The Heat was able to go back to their bread and butter, knocking down 13 threes compared to the Nuggets who had eight. They also pulled away from the Nuggets in the 3rd quarter by outscoring their opponents 38-22.

Doing the little things

Aside from outscoring Denver, the Heat matched the Nuggets in several categories as well. Miami matched Denver in points in the paint (50), steals (7) and blocks (2).

Stars step up

Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo both scored 22 points each in the win. Bam started off the game red-hot, shooting 4-5 from the field. Butler also got going later in the 3rd quarter. They also got plenty of help from Heat players Kelly Olynyk, Duncan Robinson and others who scored over 10 points.

Staying Clean

The Heat were able to limit their turnovers to 16 whereas Denver committed 19. Miami also committed fewer fouls and made the most of their trips to the free-throw line with a conversion rate of 86%. Against a team with more depth, you honestly can’t ask for better all-around performance at this stage of the season.

The next matchup

The Heat will have another big test when they face the Toronto Raptors on Monday, August 3rd. Toronto are victors of a 107-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers and currently sit second in the conference.

Heat versus Nuggets Preview

It’s the first official game for the Heat since the restart and they will already have their hands full in this matchup. Denver (43-22 Overall, 26-13 Conf) comes into the game with a deeper roster. All-Star center Nikola Jokic has made gradual improvements with conditioning in the scrimmage matches after contracting COVID-19. The Nuggets will have Bol Bol at their disposal too. The former 2nd round pick has been aggressive since the restart and has been averaging 15 points so far. His size and scoring ability could give the Denver the option the ability to make a troublesome “Big” lineup consisting of Jokic potentially at a guard position. This lineup was used earlier in one of their scrimmages.

The Heat (41-24 Overall, 28-10 Conf.) have also been impacted by COVID-19 with several players including All-Star Bam Adebayo contracting the virus. Miami greatly benefited from using their scrimmages to condition players as well as giving fringe players game time. Tyler Herro has looked great despite recovering from injury before the COVID-19 postponement. Kendrick Nunn has had a quiet start since the restart due to contracting COVID-19 but has made progress. Miami will have their hands full dealing with Denver’s quality in depth.

This game will be scrappy because of the general rust that many players may have due to a lack of game time. Miami will be clear underdogs that will not only have to physically tough in the paint but also focused on executing on offense to upset Denver in this matchup. The game will be air on ESPN. Tip-off is at 1 pm on 8/1

5 thoughts about the Heat versus Jazz Scrimmage

The Rust continues
Many players on both teams had rusty performances in the matchup. For the Heat, they converted 41% from the field where Utah concerted 44%. Both teams struggled from behind the arc. Miami made 11 threes out of 43 attempts while Utah making 14 out of 40.

Olynyk and Herro go off
Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Herro carried the bulk of the scoring for the Heat. Olynyk led the Heat scoring 27 points while Herro chipped in with 20. It was good to see that Herro was getting his rhythm back after struggling with an injury before the shutdown. Rudy Gobert dominated for the Jazz with 21 points and Michael Conley and Jordan Clarkson both scored 17 apiece.

Scrimmage pays off
Although Miami list today, these scrimmages will pay off for many of the teams including Miami. Many clubs will be able to condition and rotate players. Don’t panic people, it is entirely too early to be concerned about performances right now.

Bam and Butler rest
Most of our starters got minutes during the game with the exception of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Kendrick Nunn got minutes in his first game back after contracting COVID-19 along with Adebayo. Hopefully, we can get to see Adebayo and Butler back on the court soon.

Matchup versus Memphis
The Heat will scrimmage the Memphis Grizzlies next on Tuesday, July 28th.

The NBA is Back!

This is not a drill people! Finally, the moment that fans have been waiting all summer since the COVID shutdown. The NBA will begin their restart plan tonight beginning with a series of scrimmages before resuming their remaining schedule. The season resume tonight with the Utah Jazz versus the New Orleans Pelicans following with the LA Clippers versus the LA Lakers. On the flip side, Heat fans will have to wait to see until Saturday to their team takes on the Denver Nuggets. Tonight’s scrimmages will begin on TNT check your local listings.

Second Heat Player tests positive to Coronavirus

According to Ira Winderman, a second Heat player has tested positive to the Coronavirus. Thus, causing the Miami Heat to stop workouts at its practice facility. This is the second player to have tested positive for the virus after Forward Derrick Jones Jr. tested positive. Due to privacy request, the player has not been identified. What is noted is that the player is a rotation player. The Heat will continue to test players on an every-other-day basis before leaving for the NBA restart location in Orlando.

Jones Jr tests positive for COVID-19

After being tested positive for COVID-19, Heat Forward Derrick Jones Jr will not travel with the Heat to Orlando for the NBA restart season. Instead, Jones Jr will be quarantined for two weeks as part of the COVID-19 protocol. Jones Jr. is one of 16 players who tested positive for the coronavirus. This bitter news will impact the Heat’s rotation and rotation players like Jae Crowder, KZ Okpala and others will see more minutes. While we all wish for a speedy recovery, fans will need to prepare to not see our highflying forward at least for a while. Before the postponement, Jones Jr has been enjoying his most productive season yet. The 3rd year man from UNLV is averaging 8.9 PPG & 4.0 RPG. He also is the reigning 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Champion. After this season, Jones Jr. will be an unrestricted free agent and plenty of teams will be offering for his services given his recent success.